Beet loader tractor trailer



Feb. 6, 1951 A, B, QWE ET AL 2,540,791

BEET LOADER TRACTOR TRAILER Filed July 13, 1946 Y -zed B. o@am/e: Pag/mond 1d. {cm/e Patented Feb. 6, 1951 `UlNllfUD ,STATES .PAT-ENT OFFICE 'BEET LOADER TRACTOR TRILER `rAlfredlB..'L'owe :and Raymond A. Lowe,

' @Dttawa County, Ohio Application 4July 13V, 1946, Serial'No. A683,366

i2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to lassembling and elevating articles for delivery into afre'ceiver.

'This invention has `utility when incorporated 'infa trailer unitfrom a tractorjwth powertake loff thereto from the tractor. A collector-kicker device has a travel'course aeld, say along a row ofitoppedfand lifted sugarbee'ts. These uprooted beets Alie upon the top of, or very close to the top of, the "ground, The kicker-device pummel's the loose beets overto `aiirststage elevator hav vlngaslight-asc'entendless openwork belt, to allow dirt and nonbeet fragments to sift thru. A

'second 'major length elevator, also of screening 'or 'openwork type, takes the beets 'from 'an intermediate hopper 'and beyond the extension joint portion of this `second elevator -for delivery into aftruckor-otherreceptacle adapted to move `along therewith.

y'Referring to thedrawings Fig. lfis a side elevation of `an embodiment of the invention in a beet 'pick-up and loader;

Fig. 2 is a plan 'View of the loader of Fig. l, on a slightly larger scale;

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the collectorkicker device, as an enlarged detail from the showing in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 4 isaa jparti'al side `elevation'frorn the right of Fig. 1 showing features ofthe major elevator extension as folded back, in .reducing to .more

C0mpact`formfor 'intereld transit.

Ground'wheels I have an axle i2 therebetween.

'Rockableth'ereon'as an a'xle or .inlcrum iis `affor- Wardly extending "frame section 13 having bearings 4fforframe Aextension 5, converginglto a cle vis device 6 adapted as a trailer hitch to -a'tr-ao- 4tor 1. A rearwardly directed power take-oli 8 from the tractor 'l has connection 9 to .a y.telescopic shaft'section lll having a Aknuckle .or uni versal jint `Il adjacent a bearing l2 fixed with a cross portion I3 of the frame 3 between the bearings 4.

Power transmission Fixed with the frame 3 by bearings l2, I4, l5, is a shaft I6 from the universal joint H. At the bearing I4 there is a bevel gear assembly ll to a shaft I8 terminally having a, sprocket wheel I9. Forwardly and downwardly therefrom is a sprocket chain to a driven sprocket wheel 2l outboard on a shaft 22 having kicker leaves or sections 23 thereon between the sides of a frame 24 mounting the shaft 22.

Adjacent a bearing 25 for the shaft 58 to be sed with the frame s, there is an additional sprocket wheel 2E adjacent the sprocket wheel I9. From this sprocket wheel 26 there extends rearwardly ya sprocket chain 2'! above and Aback of the axle 2 to a sprocket wheel 28 on a shaft 2`9 vas the drive lshaft for an endless belt oon- :veyor "3U, as an openwork apron 'rst stage elevator inthe frame 24 from a cross Vshaft 3l ad- 'jacentthe kicker 23, 24.

l"Outboard from the `bearing "i 5, a sprocket wheel 32 Ais xed on the shaft I6 and has upwardly eX- tending therefromasprocket chain s3 asan endless Jbeit, :about a guide or intermediate pulley "34 to a sprocket 'gear-wheel J35 on a shaft Si in elevator frame terminal section il hinged on a shaft 33 carrying the pulley Se. The 4shaft `St is in the upper end "of a `frame section 39 mountingthe extension `france section '31.

VTilt adjustment `Thehingedirameextension 5 has upstanding .therefrom .a handlever `4!) having pivot connec- .tion 4.I with the extension .5 .parallel .to and .spaced forwardly from the common axis ofthe bearings 4. Upwardly and .rearwardly .from the .pivot 4| and yrigid with the .lever di) is .an .arm 42.h`aving .a crosspiece end 43 slidahlyin a guide 454 vrigid with the frame. Accordingly, in pull- .ing the lever 4o upper portion forwardly to `have itsOheld thruitspawl t5 engaging in :the quadrant 46, an upward -tilt .is .given .to the frame 3 on .the axle .2., .thereby {to clear the forward por tion of the frame `:24 from vthe `ground and shiit .the .kicker 23 and the .lower portion of the elevatorapron 3i] away .from pick-up position.

Pick-up operation .Aeld, `singer .beets as toppedandlifted, may be in :rows atop `the ground, to .some vtentent com- .mingle'd with soil, leaves, and weeds. The tractor 'l .may be directedialongside suchrow, with the beet pick-up loader trailer of this invention attached thereto. For the pick-up operation, the hand lever 4t is thrown upright, or slightly inclined rearwardly, in order to have the frame sides 24 enter slightly into the loose top soil. The kicker 22, 23, as driven at high speed, and counterclockwise (Fig. 1), tends to ride say down as much as a couple of inches into the loose soil. This means that the wings 23 are shoved under the loose beets to throw the beets upward over the shaft 22 to lodge upon iirst elevator apron 3d, as an openwork lift. The leaves, dirt and nonbeet fragments tend to sift thru this endless belt, as the beets move upward thereon to be discharged into a chute 4l having as a movable bottomv therefrom an elevator openwork apron 48 from a lower follower shaft `49 in the frame 39.

' 3 The upward reach of this second elevator apron is over the shaft 38 to be actuated from the shaft 36 fixed with the gear 35. The beets in this ascent, further to be freed from non-beet material, are thrown therefrom as confined by a hood 50 to lodge in a receptacle or truck 5I.

Non-piclc-up transit When not for gathering beets, other crop or distributed articles, the take-off telescopic shaft section I0, which automatically allows for transmission at various adjustments, may be disconnected. The hand-lever 40 locked at a forward position by its pawl 45 engaging the quadrant 46, thus tilting the kicker 22, 23, shaft 3l, and the forward portion of the frame 24 clear of the ground or roadway. Further, the extension frame 31 of the second elevator, may be swung on the shaft 38 as a pivot to be supported by a leg 52 y(Fig. 4). The overall width of the trailer is thus brought into the range of its ground wheels l.

The field operation hereunder for gathering sugar beets has worked out acceptably in having the transmission rotate the shaft 22 in the range of 200 R. P. M. With the shaft 22, 11/2 in diameter, and the distance between the sides of the frame 24, 36, the leaves 23 have been found to have suiiicient strength when 1/2 thick, and their pummeling or lifting power ample when radially extending from the outside of the shaft 22 as much as 3A".

The trailer equipment'as hauled by a tractor, has the pick-up crop-approach regioncarrying the kicker device 22, 23, at one side of the course for the tractor 1, herein shown as at the left. The tractor thus need not traverse over the crop to be gathered. The practice in lifting field crops of the root type, such as beets, is to locate in sort of windrows on the loose soil. This does not mean that there is a smooth clean surface from which the beets may be shoveled up, but that there is usually a considerable portion of debris therewith, notwithstanding the beets may be topped. Accordingly, hereunder, it is the purpose to have the shaft 22 in its travel under side v actually enter the loose top soil, thereby certainly to act below the crop to be garnered. This underside digging into the soil in the direction being pulled, liftingly agitates the beets in throwing the beets, with the loose dirt and other nonbeet material, over the shaft 22 to land upon the down end of the conveyor belt in proximity to theV shaftY 22.

The setting of the hand lever 40 may determine the plow-like settling of the forward ends of the frame 211 for gouging action in locating the kicker 22, 23, properly. The more hard the soil, the less embedded the crop thereon, and

accordingly the more superficial the pummeling and lifting of the crop to ascend upon the first stage elevator conveyor. With a slightly higher speed lineal travel rate for the second stage elevator conveyor, there is not accumulation in the hopper 41.

What is claimed and it is desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A pick-up device for articles strewn afield in proximity to embedded grouping, said device comprising a portable elevator having a downend article receiver, and in forWard-feeder-lift continuity to the elevator up-kicker leaves, a rotary shaft mounting Vthe leaves to extend straight longitudinally along the shaft in staggered end-to-end sequence, and a high speed drive for the shaft swinging embedded leaves from below the shaft forwardly of the shaft upward away from embedding position and out of the embedding to move over the shaft toward the elevator to fling articles from the embedded grouping to lodge upon the elevator.

2. Pick-up and truck loader equipment for field crop as distributed aeld, said equipment comprising a two-wheeled trailer axle providing a fulcrum, a frame mounted on theaxle fulcrum, a haulage connection for the frame includingl a link adapted to attach to a, tractor for holding the equipment against angular shifting on the axle, said connection including a hand lever upstanding from and relatively to the link, said lever having Aconnection therefrom to the frame to rock the frame on the axle relatively to the link attachment to the tractor, conveyor means carried by the frameV and swingable therewith from the axle to have the ground clearance of the conveyor means varied by said shifting of the lever, and means for holding the lever in shifted position relatively to the link to x the clearance from the ground of the conveyor means.

ALFRED B. LOWE. RAYMOND A. LOWE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 796,395 De Jong Aug. 5, 1902 985,991 Fiebach Mar. 7, 1911 1,258,142 Pitcher Mar. y5, 1918 1,431,857 Willcox Oct. 10, 1922 1,509,129 Evans Sept. 23, 1924 1,761,286 Zuckerman June 3, 1930 2,267,303 Jordan Dec. 23, 1941 2,421,999 Dahlman June 10, 1947 2,432,956 Walz Dec. 16, 1942 2,463,019 Clausen Mar. 1, 1949 

